


An angel in the snow

by copenhagenborn



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Christmas Fluff, Christmas fic, M/M, mentions of lilo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 06:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5487203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copenhagenborn/pseuds/copenhagenborn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"That's, it's a winter wonderland Niall." Harry whispers, disbelief clear in his voice as he presses closer to the window. "So fucking pretty." </p>
<p>"Get you kit on, you can borrow me other pair of boots by the door." Niall orders, strong hands pushing him away from the window and to the hallway, "We have to get there first, untouched snow is always the best!" </p>
<p> </p>
<p>in which Niall loves a white Christmas, and Harry's never seen snow before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An angel in the snow

Harry's never really understood the hype about a white Christmas; the coat of snow covering the road doesn't do anything but delay the already belated traffic, and the icy roads being the cause of loads of broken legs isn't what Harry's dreaming about during December.

No. Harry likes the dwindling lengths of class, professors not wanting to be caught in their car when a snow storm hits, or the gift wrapping during late nights in front of the fire place, the Christmas hols spent doing nothing but cozying up with family and friends, before ending it all with a bang on New Year's.

The lack of excitement might stem from spending his entire life in sunny LA, where snow is something from movies, and Santas from every mall are sweating their bums off before their work day is over.

But this year he's spending Christmas in the UK.

An offer from the exchange student committee had suggested he finish up his bachelor in the states, and then used a year abroad to broaden his horizons - at a respectable university of course. Which was how he met Niall.

Zayn, Niall's previous flat mate, had taken Harry's spot at his school back in LA, leaving Harry in his empty room in the shared flat with Niall. Niall who's a walking contradiction if anything; always staying up later than you should if you're going for a perfect gpa, but never sleeping in more than nine on weekends, who loves to take his time explaining something scientific, but hates it when Harry takes too long telling a story.

Which is why Harry finds it odd that Niall "why do people even celebrate Halloween, that's a stupid holiday" Horan is so in touch with his Christmas spirit.

 

They're lying in Harry's bed the first time Niall brings it up.

 Niall's leg slung over Harry's, head resting on his chest as they try to co-read the work for their shared psychology class.

"Have you look at the weather forecast?" Niall hums, pale fingers poking the bare skin of Harry's chest.

"Hmm?"

Harry doesn't know why he always agrees to read with Niall, not when he knows the blond is a much faster reader then he is, and Niall's never been good at waiting until Harry turns the page, always doing something to try and pass the time - often involving poking and prodding Harry, resulting in a much longer wait.

"The weather? It's Christmas in two weeks Haz, don't you wanna know if it's gunna snow?"

"That's oh, that's a thing it does over here isn't it?" Harry frowns.

He puts the book down, sliding in the bookmark Niall had bought him as a housewarming gift when he finally got settled in the flat. He looks down at the blond staring back at him with shining blue eyes, a soft smile on his lips as he pokes Harry's nose.

"That it does, loads of it too if we're lucky." Niall grins, rolling to the side so he can turn on his front, body supported by his elbows. "One time Louis organised a snowball fight for the entire building - I hadn't brought me proper winter jacket with me back then so I ended up with pneumonia, but like - it was so great."

"Does it hurt? I mean, I've been in a water fight and that's fine - but snow balls - does it hurt? Aren't they hard?" Harry ask, turning to his side. Book forgotten by their sides as it falls to the floor with a thump.

"Depend on how hard you throw them yeah? But no, only if Louis's playing dirty; he likes to mix in a bit of stone if you've really pissed him off. But that's mostly reserved for Liam or the English department, so you should be in the clear."

"Oh, that's uh, nice."

Harry doesn't like the sound of that. Ever since Niall introduced him to the rest of his friends, Louis and him just didn't seem to hit it off, Louis always adding some snarky remark under his breath whenever Harry had finished talking, rolling his eyes when Harry talked directly to him, or even going as far as straight out ignoring the question. Harry isn't quite sure why Louis is treating him like he's something Niall's dragged in from the trash. But it might have something to do with the fact that he caught him wanking to something Liam had sent him - a picture from his surfing hols in Australia, Harry later learned when Liam showed him the very same picture; Louis blushing a furious red as he sat on the other side of Liam.

But Niall is smiling, jittering in the small one man bed of Harry's, excitement running through his veins at the thought of Christmas - and Harry's not sure he could ever say no to something which made Niall that excited.

(+)

They go to Oxford street for Christmas shopping, all four of them cramped into the overfilled tube carriage, snug coats and beanies suddenly too hot when they're breathing down each other's necks.

Harry doesn't have a lot of present to buy this year, both his mother and father agreeing that he didn't have to buy them anything with the extra expenses of going to the UK for school, leaving only Gemma and the few friends from the states he's known his entire life; his British friends already taking care of on a trip to London by himself.

Louis is by far the busiest with six siblings to buy presents for, all of them wanting something similar but at the same time completely different. Liam had been smart, acted so bloody useless that his long time girlfriend finally agreed to buy presents for his sisters and parents if he went with her and carried the bags, leaving him with only her to buy presents for.

Niall, like Harry, didn't have enough money to go home for Christmas since he went home back in September for his birthday, so all he had to buy was gifts for his brother and nephew, Theo.

"Let's split up, yeah? Me and Payno, and you and Harry, and then meet somewhere for dinner." Louis suggests, hand already pulling at Liam's to get him to turn around.

"Wouldn't it be better if you went with Harry? I mean both of you are buying presents for your sisters, probably going in the same stores and that." Liam reasons. He stays in his spot making Louis reluctantly stop to give Harry the once over.

"Shut up Liam, that doesn't even make sense! You're buying for Sophia too, yeah? And Jenna is way older than my sisters, so there's that." Louis sneers, his arms crossed over his chest, feathery brown hair falling in front of his eyes, but he refuses to remove it as he stares Harry down, challenging him to argue with him.

"It's Gemma, yeah Lou? Might do you good to remember that in the future," Niall says with a roll of his eyes. He takes Harry's hand, giving it a tug until he starts moving. "Doesn't matter though, we're going."

They walk briskly down the pavement, Harry's hand still encased in Niall's, the blond almost fuming as he speeds up.

"You uh, you didn't have to do that." Harry clears his throat, giving Niall's hand a tug to make him stop. The blond gives in, dropping Harry's hand before turning to face him with a soft smile. "He's been your friend for years, you don't have to fight with him for my sake."

"He should know better." Niall snorts, "I don't even know why he's like that. It hurt when Zayn left and didn't return our calls - didn't even tell the rest of us about the exchange you know? - but like, that's no reason for him to shut down or refuse to make new friends."

Harry shrugs.

He's fine with Louis hating him for something silly like knowing about the crush on his best friend, he can live with that; especially if Niall's going to take his side when Louis's acting like a complete twat.

"We should get going, yeah? Loads of shops to go through if we want to find the perfect gift for that sister of yours." Niall adds, re-wrapping his scarf around his neck as he starts to walk.

(+)

The student union has arranged some sort of trivia night/going away party for the students going home for Christmas. Niall had signed all four of them up back in November in fear of not getting one of the fifty tickets the union had made available.

Harry had thought it would be a fun night out with the lads, having a pint or two while finally getting something proper to eat; Niall maybe drinking a bit too much so he would need help getting into bed before deciding Harry's bed was way more comfortable.

But when they arrive at the union and are asked to pick a jello shot - cranberry or orange - with a wooden pin stuck in it, a small number written on the end, Harry knows how the night is going to go.

Niall, Liam and the rest of their friends who were lucky enough to get a ticket in December had been placed in one end of the room, close to the bar, bathroom and all around the greatest place to sit if you were looking for a good time; leaving Harry in the other end, with Louis of all people.

They're halfway through dinner when Harry finally breaks the silence.

"I'm not gunna tell on you, y'know, no one knows if you haven't told them." He reasons, voice cautious as he looks into Louis' blue eyes.

"Shut up, would you? We're not talking about it, _I'm_ not talking about this with you."

"It's not a big deal, so what if you're gay-"

"That's not the bloody problem, is it?! Niall's bi, do you see anyone poking fun at him? And I'm guessing by the way you're pining over him, you're not completely straight either."

Which is, not what Harry had expected him to say.

"Oh."

Louis scoffs, harshly. "You thought nobody knew about it? I mean, yeah, those hearts in your eyes could probably be some American thing we have picked up yet, but yeah, it's kinda obvious mate."

"There's not - I do not have - there's no hearts in my eyes, what are you even on about?!" Harry splutters, dropping the plastic cutlery onto his plate, drawing the attention from the people sitting around them. He leans over the table, motioning for Louis to do the same. "Do you think that he knows? Is it _that_ obvious?"

Louis shrugs, a smirk on his lips as he replies, "I mean, I would think not, but Niall's been known to ignore things until they go back to normal, so he might."

Harry pauses for a moment, realising they're completely off track.

"What's the problem then? If you're not afraid of being gay, then why is liking Liam a bad thing?"

"You mean despite the fact that he has a girlfriend who he's been with longer than I've known him? Nothing, the perfect conditions for a new relationship actually." Louis adds casually, like it doesn't kill him to admit that he'll probably never have a chance. But there's a look of pure defeat in his eyes when his connects with Harry's stare.

"Lou, I'm-"

"Switch places, please!" one of the organisers yells from the top of her seat, hands cupped around her mouth as she gestures for them to look underneath their plates for their new seat.

"Forget it yeah? We've never had this conversation." Louis mutters as he picks up his new number, leaves the table and drops down in the chair next to Liam - hazing away whatever poor freshman who thought it was going to be his new seat.

Harry thinks about doing the same, scouting the room for how far away Niall's gunna be this time when someone takes the seat next to him. He turns quickly, a lie about this not being his seat on the tip of his tongue until he sees the familiar blond hair.

"Niall, hey." He smiles, leaning in to wrap his arm around his back to pull him in for a hug. "Is this really your seat?"

His cheeks are a ruddy red, stained by the pints he's been drinking throughout the night, eyes shining a wonderful blue as he laughs, head falling down to rest in the crook of Harry's neck, grabby hands intertwining themselves in the fabric of Harry's dress shirt.

"Yeah buddy, it's great, isn't it? The two of us together." Niall cackles, forehead resting against Harry as he pulls the blond closer, almost to the point of Niall tipping into his lap, all loose limbed and slurred speech.

Harry looks at the end of the table, the rest of their friends obviously having cheated to sit together, another round of shots being delivered to their table. But he doesn't mention it to the blond, lets Niall curl further into him as he reaches out to pick up a piece of meat from the plate in front of Harry.

"Yeah, it's great alright."

(+)

Everyone has left when the 24th comes around, leaving Niall and Harry to roam an abandoned campus. The cafeteria makes a big deal out of making a proper duck, boiled potatoes and Christmas pudding as the thirty or so students who have stayed behind gather around for dinner.

They watch Love Actually when they get back to their room.

Both of them cuddled up in Niall's bed with his iPad lying between them, sharing the sparse amount of sheets and blankets he has. Niall's hands resting on Harry's hip, making his heart skip a beat when Niall's fingers start stroking the soft skin between his pants and the hoodie, suppressing a full body shiver when his fingers start to slip further down, quickly catching himself as he send Harry an apologetic smile, retracting the entire hand to his own chest.

Niall falls asleep first, heavy eyes finally giving into sleep as another episode of Friends starts to play, Harry's head now resting on his chest as the hand in his curls goes limp. Harry doesn't stay up much longer than that, not when Niall's warm and cuddled up to him closer than he's ever been before. So Harry moves closer, covering the entirety of Niall's body with his, head buried in the crook of his shoulder, hands wrapped loosely around his biceps as he stretches up to place a soft kiss on Niall's cheek, staring at the specks of soft hairs Niall hasn't shaven off yet, before pulling back, lying down and closing his eyes.

 

It's not morning when Harry is woken up. The weakened moonlight shining in through the see through curtains Niall has in his room, as Niall stands above him covered from head to toe in thick outerwear, complete with knitted beanie and mittens on his hands.

"Harry, are you awake? Mate, come on." Niall whispers, hands softly shaking the sleep out of him, "You have to hurry."

"Wha- what's going on Niall? Did the fire alarm go off? I'm not wearing jeans, I can't go out there now." Harry slurs. He sits up in the bed, Niall's side almost cold from the lack of body heat coming from the blond.

"Come on! It's snowing, we have to go out there!" Niall grins, pulling at Harry's hand until he stands up and follows to the window.

And sure enough, the entire quad is filled up with a thick layer of pristine white snow, untouched as it keeps falling around them.

"That's, it's a winter wonderland Niall." Harry whispers, disbelief clear in his voice as he presses closer to the window. "So fucking pretty."

"Get you kit on, you can borrow me other pair of boots by the door." Niall orders, strong hands pushing him away from the window and to the hallway, "We have to get there first, untouched snow is always the best!"

Harry gets a look at the clock when he's pulling on the boots, coat already shrugged on, Niall wrapping the thick, knitted scarf around his throat to hurry him up. It's half past four, only one and a half hours after both of them went to sleep, but Harry doesn't bother, doesn't tell Niall that there's no need to hurry up because no one else will be out there for hours.

Instead, he lets Niall take his hand, pull him through the empty hallway and down the stairs until they're stepping onto snow, soft crunches beneath their feet, the snow giving way for his heavy weight as he follows Niall onto the football field.

"It's softer than I thought it would be," Harry hums as he gathers a small hand full of the snow, letting it fall through his fingers before picking up another hand.

"It's crystallised water, Haz, what did you think?" Niall grins. He bends down and fills his arms with a bunch of snow, turning to Harry before throwing it onto his head with a laugh. "It's snowing Harold!"

Harry can't help but laugh.

The entire situation is outrageous, Niall jumping around like he's never been happier; and Harry's is right there next to him, covered in snow and a nose so cold it almost hurts. But there's nowhere else he would rather be.

Niall drops down into the snow, carefully choosing a spot with an untouched circle of snow around him before he starts to spread his arms and legs, pulling them back into his body and spreading them again.

Harry doesn't even think twice about it before he drops down next to him, head to head as he spreads his legs without a care in the world.

"Are you gunna tell me what we're doing then?" Harry asks when both of them have stopped moving, just lying in the cold snow watching the snowflakes fall down.

"It's a snow angel Haz," he hums softly, but doesn't make a move to stand. "An angel made out of snow."

An angel in the snow more like, Harry reckons, but like always he stays quiet.

 

They're making a snowman. Harry's been rolling the snow into big balls while Niall's searching for rocks and sticks to use for the details; it's not completely fair how the work load is distributed, Harry's hands close to frozen because of his thin mittens, but there's a smile on Niall's left that hasn't left since he woke up, so Harry has stopped caring that much.

He's just put the head of the snowman on top of the two bigger balls when Niall comes back, carrots from the fridge in his hands as he walks over.

"Did we have a-" But Niall's not listening, throwing the carrots down in the snow, stepping forward as he puts his hands on Harry's cheeks, pulling him close until his lips are covering Harry's.

It takes his brain a couple of seconds to catch up, Niall's thumbs stroking the cold skin of his cheeks, resting his forearms on his shoulders. And Niall's warm, and soft and everything Harry has been wanting for the last months, so he licks into it, lets Niall take control of the kiss until he's making a soft sound in the back of his throat, too loud for just the two of them out in this open space.

Harry pulls back, confusion clear in his eyes as Niall shrugs. "Your mouth was turning blue, thought I would help you keep warm." And then he's back, dipping his head to kiss him again, tongue softly begging for entrance as Harry gasps.

It's everything he wants, and at the same time the complete opposite. Because Niall hasn't said a thing about wanting to be with Harry, nothing about how he's been pining for Harry ever since they met each other, or how he just didn't give a fuck anymore because the thought of not being able to kiss him for just one more second was too much for him to handle.

"No. We ca- Niall, stop it! I'm not during this," Harry says, pulling away from the way Niall's arms have intertwined themselves around him. "I'm not - I don't think we're on the same page about this."

Niall freezes, his arms dropping to his sides as he pulls away completely. "Oh, I just thought - I mean, you, and the bed and-"

"That, yeah, that doesn't mean I'm fine with during this Niall," Harry scoffs, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. "There's a difference between cuddling up to someone you consider your friend and then kissing them, they're not fucking interchangeable Niall."

Niall's cheeks are so fucking red by now, and Harry's not sure whether it's from the cold or if it's because of the things Harry is saying.

"I just thought, I mean, Louis said you had been talking about us. But like, if you're not, then I'm uh, I have the keys to Louis' flat, I can sleep there for the night." He turns on his heels, walking through the newly fallen snow on his way to the flat complex on the other side of campus.

It's not until Niall's almost completely out of sight that his words finally settle within Harry's brain.

'...same page about this... Louis, talking about us'

"Niall, wait!" Harry screams, legs already running towards him as the blond turns around, a frown etched into his forehead, eyes still a sad blue. "What did Louis say to you?"

Niall clears his throat, clearly thinking it's a joke when he starts to chew on his lip. "That he had told you how I felt about you; that we were on the same page and that I should probably make a move before you moved on?" His voice cracks mid-through, sounds so fucking painful, like it hurts him to say those words.

Harry laughs, doesn't stop even when Niall looks hurt and turns to walk away again. He does put an arm out, pulling the blond back into his arms, until he's cuddled closely to his chest, sharing their sparse body heat with each other.

"Louis's such a fucking twat," he laughs, kisses placed on every piece of bare skin Harry can reach. "He just said he knew how I felt about you, but that I shouldn't count on you knowing."

"Oh." Niall says with a smile, wrapping his arms around Harry's waist.

"And then you kissed me and said the thing about just wanted to keep me warm, and the cuddling thing, and I thought you just wanted something causal."

Niall shakes his head furiously as he leans out of Harry's arm to look into his eyes. "No of course not. I've had this stupid crush on you since that party in October, you know when you made us lose flip cup so we had to walk home instead of getting the taxi." Niall laughs, leaning in to peck Harry's lips. "I don't think anything about has ever been casual Haz."

"I think I'm good with that babe."

They're laughing now, falling over into the snow, the half done snowman long forgotten.

"Guess you finally got your white Christmas then."

"Yeah, that I did. Don't think I could have wished for anything better than this."  


End file.
